Greek 100 drachma coins

The name drachma is derived from the verb dratto ("to grasp"), as initially a drachma was a fistful (a "grasp") of
six oboloi (metal sticks), which were used as a form of currency as early as 1100 BC. The 5th century BC Athenian
tetradrachmon ("four drachmae") coin was the most widely used coin in the Greek world prior to the time of Alexander
the Great.

After Alexander the Great's conquests, the name drachma was used in many of the Hellenistic kingdoms in the Middle
East, including the Ptolemaic kingdom in Alexandria. The Arabic unit of currency known as dirham known from pre-Islamic
times and afterwards, inherited its name from the drachma; the dirham is still the name of the official currencies of
Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. The Armenian dram also derives its name from the drachma.

The following 100 drachma coins have circulated in Greece until the introduction of the
Common European Currency on January 1, 2002:

Alexander the Great (356-323 bc) was the king of Macedonia (Greece), conqueror of the Persian Empire, and one of the greatest military geniuses of all times. Alexander was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia, being the son of Philip II, king of Macedonia, and of Olympias, a princess of Epirus.Aristotle was Alexander's tutor; he gave ...

70th for men/13th for women World Weight-lifting Championship in Athens 1999Weightlifting is a sport based on the lifting of a series of progressively heavier metal weights, which are generally encased in rubber and it is included in the Olympic Games program. The obverse image is part of a relief from the Zeus Temple in Olympia, which displayed ...

45th World Championship Graeco-Roman Wrestling in Athens 1999Greco-Roman wrestling is especially popular in Europe, but it is practiced throughout the world. The contestants must apply all holds above the waist, and that the use of the legs in scoring or defending is prohibited. Accordingly, tripping, tackling, and using the legs to secure a hold ...

XII World Basketball Championship in Athens 1998Basketball is a fast-paced game played on a rectangular court by two five-player teams. It is considered one of the most popular sports in the world and the primary objective of the game is to score more points than the opposition by putting a round ball through a circular band, called a rim

VI International Athletics Championship in Athens 1997The Temple of Hera at Olympia (590? bC), is the oldest well-preserved Doric temple. With 6 columns across the front and back and 16 on each side, the temple has a ratio of length to width of nearly three to one, but as time passed, Greek architects felt these proportions were too elongated

A total of 107 teams participated in the 28th Chess Olympics, held in Thessaloniki (12th - 30th November 1988) The coin features the most prominent post-Byzantine monument of the city, the White Tower, which formed the southeast corner of the city's Byzantine and Turkish defences. Prior to this, it was the "Bloody Tower", a place of imprisonment ...